And So On

Upon return to Hong Kong, the first thing I noticed was a major change to the train system. It's still taking me time to adjust. However, I went clothes shopping today and a salesgirl approached me with a particular item and said, "This one we have in big size," followed by a sweet smile and an affirming nod. Glad to know that some things never change. I think I've lost about 15 pounds since I moved here, but I'm still a giant. Shoes are worse. I wear a size 8 1/2 which most stores here don't even carry because that so ridiculously huge that Guinness should probably call me soon. Mom--send shoes. Anything except those creepy feet slippers you always wore in the early 90s. Flats, so the men I date aren't intimidated by my stature.

So now on to more pertinent and universally fascinating issues. The new TIE team has assembled and completed one week of rehearsals. We have Lindsey from South Dakota and Michael from Australia. We work so well together--Lindsey's amazing with characters, Michael is jumping in with the choreography. I'm there, too. I want to rename us "The Hong Kong Danger Duo"...youtube it.

And now, more retrospection. Alert readers will remember that my original plan was to visit Alison in Switzerland, then go to Scotland to visit the incomparable Mark. Mark, unfortunately, was diagnosed with the A1H1 strain of flu, commonly known as Swine Flu by everyone except people in Hong Kong and hog farmers. So I skipped my return flight to London and stayed with Alison. I didn't have a plan on how I would get back to London, but as we said whenever it came up, "Future Camber will figure that out." And she did...I took a lovely train from Geneva to Paris. Once I got there, I had about 12 hours to get to London in time for my flight to Chicago. No problem, it's not far. People have been known to swim across that thing. However, at the station, I searched for trains to London, only to discover that there aren't any. Had I not been able to speak French, I may still be wandering the streets of Paris. I asked around and someone told me that there are trains to London from the other station. Of course. So I got on the Metro and went to the other station and found a train to London leaving in about an hour. I decided to walk around the city. When I exited the station, I actually thought (in my sleep-deprived delusional state) that there had been a terrible mistake and I was in India. I still can't prove that I wasn't, except for the France passport stamp, which I guess is pretty solid.
On the train, I sat by a handsome and charming laser guy from Colorado, now doing a masters in Laser stuff at Princeton, with a summer internship in Europe. It's almost like we're twins, really.
We arrived in London, unscathed by our trip from Paris or India, and parted ways. I took the tube to Heathrow, where I half-slept/half-kept watch of my 'valuables' for about 6 hours until I could check in. The flight to Chicago seemed so short compared to HK flights. Plus, I sat by a guy who travels internationally with race horses. At the airport was the surprise of all surprises. I had expected that my mom would be there to collect me, but it was The Mother, The, Dad, Ann Coultas, and Daniel Coultas! They had even considered bringing a life-size cardboard cut-out of Barack Obama.
After lunch and much joyous reverie, mom, Ann, and I set out for South Dakota. I'm feeling I'm getting long-winded, so I'll quickly summarize in photographs the fantastic American tour.

I met up with Amber, poet:


Pat, Ann, and I went to Pipestone, MN, also known as Piperock:


Nikki had a birthday. The three roommates from 07-08 reunited for the first time since our dispersal in May 08. We had a thing when we lived together that whenever one of us shouted out "Trigonometry", all three would unite in the kitchen and strike the below pose. It was a glorious effort for us, with hectic schedules, to at least see eachother sometimes:


Of course, South Dakota's main attraction, Grandma, after treating us at Pizza Ranch:


I flew from South Dakota to Phoenix, where I stayed with Kristen (an SD friend) and had dinner with her and Kent, yet another SD friend. They showed me a giant cactus and helped me carry things:


Sorry for the long post, I should probably get away from the computer and go for a run so people will stop pointing out the big sized clothes to me.